The Fire Sisters (Brilliant Darkness 3) by A. G. Henley Page A

they can to be quiet, but their movements are thunderous in the otherwise silent forest. The Sister moved like a ghost. Light comes close to my face. I can’t flinch away.
    “Can you hear me, Fennel?” Peree asks.
    I repeat what the Sister told me to say. It’s all I can do.
    “What the hell did they do to you?” he whispers. There’s a pause, then his torch dives to the ground and goes out with a stamping noise. “The light makes us a target. We’ll stay here for now. Come sit against this tree.”
    He wraps an arm around me. I shuffle along with him and sit. Why can I move now when I couldn’t before? Panic shreds my gut.
    “I’ll be right here with you.” His voice is by my ear; he must be crouched beside me.
    His breaths are quick, in and out, in and out. He shifts his weight, and an arrow slides against his bowstring. He’s staying to protect me. I want to tell him what happened, or at least hunch closer to him, but I can’t. I can only sit up perfectly straight in the dark, waiting, sweat creeping down my back despite the cool night. The torches of the others glide back and forth through the forest.
    After what seems like an eternity, their hushed voices merge in the direction of the campsite.
    “It must be safe,” Peree says after a minute. “Let’s go back.”
    I stand, and he takes my arm to lead me forward. When we shove through the last of the trees to reach the fire, I stand stiffly beside it. I sense the light, I feel the warmth, I hear the whispered comments of the others about me, but I can’t reach my freezing hands out toward the fire. I can’t huddle into Peree’s arms. I can’t cry out.
    Peree catches my hand. “Sit down.”
    My legs instantly fold up, and I take a seat. Wait… commands. I can move when someone tells me to. The Sister took away my… my ability to make decisions, to control my body? But how? Nausea seizes me, and my body shakes. Peree wraps a blanket around me and stays close by my side.
    “She’s so pale,” Bear says. “What’s wrong with her? Is she hurt? In shock?”
    “I don’t know,” Peree says. “She doesn’t seem injured, but she hasn’t said anything else. She just shakes. I keep having to tell her what to do.”
    “Check her neck.” Kai’s voice is grim. “Is there a wound there?”
    Peree turns my head gently to one side and the other. He touches my neck. The stabbing pain is only a dull ache now.
    “Right here,” Peree says. “What is it?”
    “She’s been stung,” Kai says.
    “By what ?” Cuda asks.
    “The Sisters.”
    “What are you talking about?” Peree asks.
    “The Sister who Gathered me pricked my neck with a knife and said I was stung. After that, I could only do what she told me to do. They must have done the same to Fennel.”
    Stung . My throat tightens; my eyes grow wet. I can’t wipe away the tear that dribbles down my cheek.
    “Will she be all right? Why didn’t you tell us they could do this before?” Peree’s voice gets louder.
    “It will wear off. At least, it did for me,” Kai says. “And I tried to explain. I said not to let them get close, that they could control you. It’s not my fault she didn’t listen.”
    That’s completely unfair!
    “How long did it take to wear off, Kaiya?” Amarina asks.
    “I don’t know.”
    “Hours? Days? Weeks?” Peree asks.
    “I don’t remember!” Kai’s voice rises, too. “The Sister… she… she kept stinging me to keep me quiet.”
    “Are we sure that’s what happened to Fenn?” Bear says. “Wait, maybe she can tell us herself. Fenn, tell us if the Sister stung you.”
    I still can’t speak.
    “I couldn’t talk either,” Kai says.
    Peree releases a long breath. I can feel him trying to get control of himself. “Did anyone see anything out there?”
    “Nothing,” Moray says. “The boys and me searched as much of that forest as we could in the dark. There’s no sign of them.”
    “We should put out the fire and move.” Conda sounds